Many factors are driving the global demand for LED lighting solutions. This increased demand has triggered an expansion of LED applications and utilization. The energy and cost savings alone have particularly broadened the utility of LEDs in industrial applications. Correspondingly, the complexity of LED based lighting systems, such as high-power LED luminaires, has also increased.
High-power LED luminaires, such as those used in outdoor applications, are available in many different configurations, based on the underlying requirements and applications. These configurations include numerous subsystems, with wiring subsystems being one type. Although the requirements, applications, and configurations may differ, many of the internal connection points, associated with the wiring subsystem, are the same or similar. Unfortunately, these similarities have failed to produce lighting fixture structured internal wiring techniques.
The absence of LED luminaire structured wiring standards increases the likelihood of mistakes, and accordingly, increased installation and maintenance costs, particularly in outdoor luminaires. For example, many of the same connection points are mounted in different locations and accomplished using completely different connector wires, screws, and nuts.
By way of background, many outdoor luminaires have external receptacles for mounting of photoelectric (PE) controls. Traditionally, a PE receptacle includes power connections for a PE controller which detects when ambient light levels are low enough to turn on or the luminaire. In addition to providing power connections and lighting control, the industry is moving toward the receptacle/PE also including connections for various low voltage signals. The receptacle and photo-control, is often rotatable 360 degrees to enable aiming the photo-control to point north, the preferred direction for sensing day and night while protecting the PE sensor from direct sun light.
One conventional approach to simplify wiring connection wiring is to use a standardized harness. The use of standardized harnesses can be complicated because of variations from one stock keeping unit (SKU) to another SKU, while only marginally reducing the probability of mistakes. On the other hand, harnesses can create the need for additional wires not routinely used, thus actually increasing the overall complexity. These tradeoffs ultimately render this approach suboptimal.